Nothing else matters
by cautiousAlbatross
Summary: Aradia has a crush on Feferi, a girl who's vastly more popular than she is.


As far as high school goes, you've always been bottom of the hierarchy, and Feferi has always been top. You've never particularly cared about that sort of thing, and from what you've heard, Feferi doesn't either. From what you've heard, she hates the whole high school system of cliques and popular kids bullying nerds and losers, and wants to reform it all from the top. The rest of her clique isn't as interested in that, especially her best friend since forever, Eridan, who everyone knows has a hopeless crush on her.

You spend most of your time hanging out with Sollux, who's nearly as low in the hierarchy as you are and cares even less, but you can't help but notice Feferi. She's always somewhere, running bake sales for charity or selling lemonade on the sidewalk, all whilst maintaining perfect grades and a social life and a part-time job at the aquarium, although you've heard she's related to royalty and her family is so loaded she could go her whole life without working a single day. Not that you're jealous, of course.

Whilst she's off being a valuable member of the community, you're sitting at home playing video games with Sollux or researching the archaeological digs you'd visit if you had the money to buy plane tickets. You're not saying you don't enjoy doing that, but sometimes you think you might like to have her life. Mostly, though, you don't really care. You don't really care about most things.

Sometimes you do care a bit, though. Like when you're sitting by the outdoor pool in the height of summer, reading a book and laughing at Sollux, who's lurking in the shade with his laptop, and Feferi is lifeguarding in a cute bikini and a see-through skirt. You glance up from your book every so often to peek at Feferi, sitting next to the pool with her legs swinging in the water and chatting to Eridan. Sollux smirks at you from behind his laptop screen when he spots what you're doing.

"Give it up, AA," he says, rolling his eyes, "She's way out of your league."

"She doesn't care about all that clique stuff," you say, absent-mindedly turning a page.

"Her friends do," he points out, looking back down at his screen.

"So what?"

"So they'd never let you near her, that's what."

You sigh, glancing at your book and then back over at Feferi.

"It's all hypothetical, anyway," you say, turning back to where you were, "I just think she's pretty and nice and-"

"And you'd really like to date her if she gave you half a chance?"

You glare at him, then say "Maybe."

"Have you ever actually talked to her?"

You hesitate. Sollux has hit on a major stumbling block.

"Once, I think..."

"Well, there's your main problem," he says, laughing.

"Just a little."  
You smile reluctantly as he rolls his eyes, still laughing, then glance back over at Feferi. She's still facing away from you, and you wonder whether she's ever noticed you exist.

The next day is a Monday, and you're back at school. No one is really paying attention in lessons, mostly because it's only a week until school ends, so you spend most of your time thinking about Feferi. You sit behind her in English, and stare at the back of her head. Her hair is just as long and unruly as yours, although you think you like hers better. At the end of the lesson – the start of lunch – you stand up quickly, and tap her on the shoulder.

"Um, hi," you say, smiling nervously.

"Oh, hey," she says, with a friendly smile, "You're Aradia, right?"

"Yeah, that's me!"

"So...?"

She gives you an expectant look, and you feel your face heat up. This is stupid.

"I was just, I mean, uh, I don't think we've ever talked before," you say, stumbling over your words.

"I don't think we have," she says, smiling and leaning against her desk, "So is there any particular reason...?"

"Not really," you say, with a nonchalant shrug, trying to play it cool, "I've just seen you around. I think you seem pretty cool. You do a lot of great stuff, you know."  
"Oh, thank you! What do like doing?"

You feel like wincing from the forced, awkward route this conversation has taken, but power on.

"Playing video games with Sollux. My friend," you add, when she wrinkles her nose, "Nerdy guy, mismatched shoes, glasses."

"Oh, him!"

"Yeah, and I like archaeology, too," you say, smiling, "So what about you? You swim, right?"

"Yes, I love swimming! And I work at the aquarium, too. I guess I just really love fish and the sea," she says, with a little laugh.

"That's really cool. So what do you want to do? When you're older, I mean."

"I'd like to be a marine biologist," she says, with a wistful look on her face, "But mom thinks I should just do what she does."

"Oh, what's that?"

"Not much," she says, and you both laugh.

"I think you should just do what you want," you say, with a little shrug, "What's the worst she can do?"

"I guess so."

You give her a little smile, then go to leave.

"Wait!" she says, and you pause, "Would you- I mean, do you want to eat with me?"

"Sure," you say, grinning, and you follow her through to her table.

"Who's this?" asks a guy with pretentious glasses and purple highlights – Eridan, you think.

"Aradia," you say, sitting next to Feferi and taking out your lunch.

"Who said you could sit with us? I didn't say you could sit with us."  
"Oh, calm down," Feferi says, sighing, "_I _said she could, okay?"

"Aw, c'mon, Fef, what'd you do that for?"

"Don't be so hostile," Feferi scolds him, giving you a sympathetic look, "Sorry about that, Aradia."

You give her a little smile, and she grins back at you.

"So what are you doing later?" she asks you, as you take out your sandwiches.

You take a bite and chew it slowly, giving yourself some thinking time.

"Not much," you say, shrugging, then take another bite.

"You could hang out with us by the pool, if you want," she says, taking out her own sandwiches and biting into them.

"Okay," you say, with a small smile.

"What have you got last?"

"Uh, French, I think," you say, chewing your lip thoughtfully.

"Okay, I'll meet you then," she says, smiling.

"What, and don't the rest of us have any say in that?" says Eridan, pouting petulantly.

"I'm not forcing _you_ to hang out with her," Feferi says, giving him an icy glare, "You could always go somewhere else."  
You think that now would probably be a good time to interject and say you don't mind, you don't have to hang out with them – but you do mind, and you'd like to hang out with Feferi, so you don't say anything, and hope Eridan just goes away.

"Aw, Fef, don't be like that," Eridan complains, and you have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes, "We've been friends since we was this high!"

He holds his hand somewhere under the table, and you suppress a giggle.

"That's no reason for you to be horrible to my new friends," Feferi says, sighing and patting the back of your hand.

You eat the last bite of your sandwich, hiding a smirk, and prepare to be entertained. Unfortunately, Sollux has other ideas.

"Oh, hey, AA, there you are," he says, appearing behind you and resting his hands on your shoulders, "I wath looking for you everywhere."

You smile a little as his lisp – all but eradicated by now – shows through, and turn to look up at him.

"Oops, sorry," you say, grinning at his exasperated expression, "Feferi just asked me to eat with them today."

"At least give me a little warning, jeez."

"I'll come sit with you know, then," you say, rolling your eyes.

"You don't have to, you know," he says, giving you a look that says actually, you do.

"No, it's fine," you say, smiling and standing up, then turning to Feferi and adding, "Sorry about him, he just doesn't have any friends. I'll see you later."

"You didn't need to tell her that," Sollux complains as you walk away.

"It's true, though."

"You still didn't need to tell her."  
You laugh, and he joins in, a little reluctantly.

"Are you sure she's coming?" Sollux asks, as you lean against the wall outside your French classroom.

"Not really," you say, shrugging.

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

You think about it for a moment, then shake your head.

"Okay, well... see you later, then."

"See you."

"Call me."

"I will," you say, grinning and waving at him as he walks off down the corridor, then going back to leaning against the wall and watching students hurry past, keeping an eye out for Feferi.

You're standing there for the better part of five minutes before Feferi bounces up to you, smiling brightly.

"Sorry I'm late!" she says.

"It's okay," you say, pushing yourself off of the wall, "Shall we go, then?"

She hesitates for a moment before saying "Yes", and you wonder what that was about.

"So, where are the others?" you ask, following her off down the corridor.

"Oh, they've already left," she says, not looking at you, "For the pool, I mean."  
"Oh, right. Which is where we're going, right?" you say, as you leave the school building and turn to head towards the pool.

"Not quite," she says, grabbing your arm and pulling you in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going, then?" you ask, following her towards a street lined with large, expensive-looking houses, trotting a little to keep up.

"To my house," she says, not looking back, and she walks a little faster.

"Oh. Why?"

"I'll tell you when we get there," she says, glancing behind her and speeding up again.

You're practically running by the time you reach her house, which looks like it's the largest and most expensive in the street.

"Okay, why were we running?" you ask, leaning against the wall in the hallway and panting as she shuts the door behind you.

She looks at you, then leans against the wall next to you and starts giggling. You give her a confused look, then start giggling as well, and that just makes her laugh more, until you're both breathless and you doubt you could stand up without the wall to help you.

"Sorry," she finally manages to say, gasping for air, "I just..."  
"What- Why- running," you force disconnected words out between breaths, trying to stop laughing.

"We were... running... running away," she says, starting to laugh again, "No, okay, stop laughing."  
"Sorry," you say, wiping away a tear and pushing yourself upright, "Okay, what was that about?"

"We were running away from Eridan and the others," she explains, looking a little sheepish, "They didn't want you to hang out with us, and they were planning... Well, I'm sure you can guess."

You nod, thinking you probably can.

"Anyway, I just didn't want them to know where we were actually going."

"Okay," you say, smiling, "That's a pretty good explanation."

"Sorry we couldn't go to the pool," she says, with an apologetic smile.

"It's okay, I don't particularly like it, anyway."  
"Oh, good. This is better, anyway. Just us."  
She gives you a little smile, and your heart starts to beat a little faster. Is she saying what you think she's saying?

"Do you want to go through to the sitting room?" she asks, after the pause stretches on for just a little too long.

"Oh. Uh, yes, okay."  
You kick your shoes off and follow her through to a large, decadent room with a television covering an entire wall and carpets that feel almost ridiculously soft under your bare toes.

"Wow," you say, looking around.

She shrugs, looking a little embarrassed, and sits down on a sofa, patting the cushion next to her.

"The décor was all my mom's idea," she explains, indicating the slightly excessive gold chandelier.

"Well, uh... there's certainly... a lot... of gold?"

"Yeah," she says, pulling a face.

You sit down next to her, a little nervously.

"So," you say, glancing up at her and then down at your hands, "Why'd you, you know, talk to me, and everything?"

"Oh. Well... you talked to me first," she says, turning pink.

"Yeah, but... you didn't have to talk to me," you say, feeling your face heat up, "Or take me to your house. Or defend me..."  
"I know," she says, staring at her lap, "I just... wanted to..."

"Why?" you ask, looking up at her.

She hesitates for a moment, then says "Because you're cute and you seemed nice and I wanted to get to know you better", talking too quickly so her words run together, but you can still understand what she's saying.

"Oh," you say, and you know your face is turning bright red, "Well, I... I guess I... talked to you... for the same reason."

She doesn't say anything, still staring down at her lap, and you can see her ears are bright pink.

"So..." you say, wondering whether you should leave or kiss her.

"Yes?" she says, looking up at you, a conflicted expression on her face, and suddenly your mind is made up.

Leaning in, you brush your lips against hers, so softly it can barely be called a kiss. You freeze when she doesn't respond, wondering whether you misinterpreted this whole thing, but then she's kissing you back and you know it's all okay. Nothing else really matters.


End file.
